Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Cover Reveal--Opal's Song by SJ Byrne

A
horrific accident on a rain slicked mountainside and permanent
paralysis from the waist down.

25
year old Lily Wade has to relearn simple, everyday activities just to
live a seemingly normal life.

Opal—a
precocious child in her rehabilitation group—teaches Lily about
living joyfully after

surviving
an immense tragedy and how to find peace within the pain.

To
keep a promise made, Lily must dust off her once beloved cello and
connect with the music she’s kept locked inside a velvet lined case
for nearly a decade.

A
Teaser

The
headlights of Darren’s extended cab Chevy swung from left to right
as he took the switch back curves much faster than normal. Lines of
tension formed beside his mouth, and his usually relaxed hands
clutched the black leather steering wheel in a white knuckle death
grip. Something about the way he pumped the brakes wasn’t quite
right, and the momentum of the truck was picking up instead of
slowing down.

Lily
wanted to ask if everything was okay, but didn’t dare distract him
from what was quickly becoming a dangerous situation. Deep ingrained
reflex made her tug on the strap of her seat belt to ensure it would
hold if the worst case scenario played itself out.

She’d
ventured East with her boyfriend to explore and get away from the
stifling rules of her parents. They had come into Western North
Carolina via the Blue Ridge Mountains and immediately fallen in love
with the place. Eclectic Asheville stole her heart with its
combination of forward movement and backwards thinking. Only in that
particular valley, surrounded by some of the oldest mountains in the
world, could one community find the wherewithal to support so many
varied lifestyle modalities. From the redneck–hillbilly descendants
of the original Scottish settlers, to the new agers, dirty hippies,
and flamboyant gays—Asheville catered to them all.

Lily
wanted to share the exuberance of the area with her family, but
suddenly feared the chance to do so would come at the cost of a
glossy wooden box. Tears filled her eyes as she swallowed past a lump
forming in her throat. She didn’t want to die.

“Aww,
FUCK!”

Darren’s
barely whispered expletive caught Lily’s attention as the tail end
of the truck swung around. Suddenly they were facing the way they’d
come. On any other day Darren would’ve calmly turned the wheel
until the truck righted itself. For some reason the beast didn’t
respond to his handling. The vehicle continued to spin until
something in the front end snapped, and Lily stared in horror. One of
the tires flew away from the truck, and in that instant she realized
what people said was true—in the moments before death time slows
down as the brain processes everything in minute detail.

Bright
headlamps illuminated the surrounding forest as the front end of the
truck crashed down onto the road. Heavy metal screeching on asphalt
filled Lily’s ears only to be replaced with the sound of trees
snapping beneath the force of a full sized pick-up rolling down the
side of a mountain.

Up
became down, and Lily’s insides threatened to come out as she was
jerked about behind the increasingly tighter band of her protective
belt. If she’d been sitting next to Darren her head would’ve been
spared the repetitive abuse of being tossed against the passenger
window. Lily didn’t want to scream out her fear, but found she had
no control over her vocal cords—her screeches of distress echoed in
the confined space until the imploding windshield drowned her out.
Shards from the window flew towards them, cutting her neck and face
as they tumbled around inside the cab.

Everything
stopped all at once. The crashing roll of the truck, the cutting of
the glass shards, even Lily’s screams. The Chevy landed on its side
with her hanging by her seat belt, staring down at the unconscious
form of her boyfriend. The smell of gasoline filled the air and Lily
felt the spike of adrenaline wash through her nervous system.

“Darren!
Darren, wake up!” She yelled as loud as her constricted lungs would
allow behind the crushing force of the nylon strap. “Darren, we
have to get out of this truck!”

Darren
remained unconscious, and Lily refused to give into the blind panic
threatening to take over. Breathing deep she quickly surveyed her
position and the quickest escape route. The windshield had completely
shattered, making that the only way out of the wreckage as the door
above her wouldn’t budge when she tried pushing it open. Grabbing
hold of the oh-shit handle, she pulled the weight of her body off the
belt and pushed the release button. Blinding heat zipped through her
body as she crashed face first against Darren's side and was knocked
out cold by the force of their skulls connecting.

****

Something
wet trickled down the side of her face just before an excruciating
pain exploded behind her eyes, and Lily knew she was about to have
the mother of all migraines. She thought to press the heels of both
hands against her throbbing eye sockets, but found her body remained
motionless against the command. A soft moan beneath her was worrying,
though she couldn’t think why. The muscle of her shoulder flexed
involuntarily and a jolt of pain flashed down her spine, stopping
abruptly in her hips. A deep breath meant to calm her frantic
thoughts brought more pain and then the blessed blackness.

****

“Hang
in there little lady. We’ve almost got you out.”

Lily
whimpered as a sudden shock of agony rippled through her arms and
torso, but the sound of someone talking eased her anxiety. She wasn’t
alone—thank god. The voice became a life line she clung to with her
mind until sweet oblivion pulled her back into its warm embrace.

****

“They
rolled down the side of Mount Pisgah. From what I can gather she was
pinned in place by her seat belt, until she managed to undo it and
then fell against his side.”

The
conversation felt a million miles away. Surely they weren’t talking
about her. Before she could give it another thought, the air was
filled with excited chatter and frantic movements. She wanted to open
her eyes and see what was going on, but her lids were too heavy to
lift. Moving the muscles of her body required a strength she didn’t
possess and fear flooded her thoughts as she cried out in
frustration. The air she pulled through her nose tasted strange on
the back of her tongue. Oblivion stretched out its arms and Lily went
into them without a fight.

Living
in the mountains of Western North Carolina SJ Byrne is just trying to
make her way through the insanity that comes with creativity. Writing
is her passion - life is her muse. Keep an eye out for new books due
later this year.